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Issues and Challenges in the

Recruitment and Selection of Immigrant Workers in Ireland

Executive Summary

Prepared for the Employers’ Diversity Networkof the Public Appointments Service

by WRC Social and Economic Consultants

Oifig an Aire d’Imeasctha

Office of the Minister for Integration



Issues and Challenges in the Recruitment and Selection of Immigrant Workers in Ireland2



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Issues and Challenges in theRecruitment and Selection of Immigrant Workers in Ireland

Final Report

Prepared for the Employers’ Diversity Networkof the Public Appointments Service

by WRC Social and Economic ConsultantsPublished 2009




Acknowledgements

This research was commissioned by the Employers’ Diversity Network, which isco-ordinated by the Public Appointments Service and consists of the followingorganisations.

The Public Appointments Service

An Garda Síochána

The Health Service Executive

The Irish Defence Forces

The Department of Finance

Temple Street Hospital

The Ofce of the Revenue Commissioners

The Northern Ireland Civil Service

The Department of Social and Family Affairs

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law ReformDublin City Council

FÁS

Hertz Ireland

The Ofce of the Minister for Integration

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Dublin Bus

The Employers’ Diversity Network would like to thank the Ofce of the Ministerfor Integration for funding this research. We also wish to thank all individuals andorganisations who took part and provided information as part of this project, inparticular the New Communities Partnership who provided signicant help andsupport in setting up workshops.



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Table of Contents1. The Aims and Objectives of the Research 6

2. Methodology 6

3. The Structure of the Report 7

4. The Recruitment of Immigrant Workers in Ireland: The Context 7

5. The Experiences of Immigrant workers in seeking work 10

5.1 Immigrants’personalgoals/orientationandjob seekingstrategy 11 5.2 Awarenessofthelabourmarket 12 5.3 Experienceoftheselectionprocessitself 12

6. The Experiences and Practices of Employers in RecruitingImmigrant Workers 13

7. Divergent views of Employers and Immigrant Workers 16

8. Conclusions 20




1. The Aims and Objectives of the Research

In April 2008 the Employers’ Diversity Network, which is coordinated by the PublicAppointments Service, commissioned research into the recruitment and selectionof immigrant workers in Ireland. This research aimed to gain insight into theexperiences of job seekers from a range of immigrant communities of seekingwork in Ireland in addition to exploring the practices and experiences of a sampleof employers (both public and private sector) in relation to the recruitment andselection of employees from immigrant communities.

The exploration of the issues from the immigrant/job seeker perspective involvedqualitative and quantitative research with key immigrant communities in Irelandto collect information on their experience of seeking employment in Ireland,including their knowledge of the job opportunities available in different sectors,their job seeking strategies and methods and the difculties and challengesencountered.

Exploring the issues from the employer perspective involved collectinginformation from a sample of employers in relation to how they approached

recruitment and selection of candidates in general and specically candidatesfrom immigrant communities. This strand of the research also focused onexploring any challenges employers have experienced in attracting and selectingcandidates from immigrant communities and on identifying examples of innovative practice in responding to those challenges.

2. Methodology

The research focused on three groups of immigrants: East Europeans andespecially Polish; Asians and especially Chinese; and people from Africa. In

addition, the views of organisations that support immigrants, labour marketservice providers in the public and private sectors and the Social Partners weresought. Given the short time frame, the focus was conned to employers andworkers in the Greater Dublin area. The main elements of the methodology usedto address the terms of reference were as follows:



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A Literature Review drawing on ofcial statistics relating to immigrants’engagement with the labour market and employment; Irish and internationalresearch into the experiences of immigrants in the labour market and at work;critiques of policy as well as relevant policy documentation; and international bestpractice with a focus on those countries with an acknowledged track record inattracting and integrating migrant workers.

Qualitative Research involving consultation with key stake-holders, including:six semi-structured interviews with organisations representing and / or working

on behalf of ethnic minorities; eight interviews with labour market serviceproviders in both the public and private sectors; in-depth interviews with veprivate sector and four public sector employers; interviews with representativesof ICTU Congress Centres Network, IBEC and SIPTU; and three focus groups withparticipation from each of the three groups that were the primary focus of theresearch.

Quantitative Research involving two surveys as follows: an email survey of 30labour market service providers in the eastern region; and a postal survey of asample of employers within the Construction, Health and Hospitality sectors in

the Dublin region.

3. The Structure of the Report

The report is structured around four chapters. Chapter 1 presents the terms of reference for the research and the methodology employed as well as the ndingsfrom the review of relevant literature. Chapters 2 and 3 respectively present thendings of our primary research into (i) the experiences of immigrants in seekingwork in Ireland and (ii) the practices and experiences of employers in recruitingimmigrant workers. Chapter 4 presents a discussion of the overall conclusions of

the research.

4. The Recruitment of Immigrant workers in Ireland:The Context

Chapter 1 prefaces the ndings of the report with a number of key points asfollows:

Despite the current economic downturn, Ireland as a developed economy•

will continue to be a country of destination for immigrants and theongoing management of immigration, diversity and integration will




continue to grow in importance as a policy area for Government and as anarea of practice for employers and Trade Unions.

Notwithstanding a number of unique features of immigration to•

Ireland (such as the scale of recent immigration), it appears that theIrish experience of immigration and particularly economic migration isnot atypical of international experience. As such, Ireland can learn fromthose countries that have put in place effective policies and structures tomanage immigration and facilitate integration and, equally importantly,

can avoid the pitfalls of those which have not.

Labour market well-being is central to promoting the social integration•

of immigrants, yet the mechanisms of labour market integration arepoorly understood, particularly as regards the diversity that existsamongst immigrants and their interaction with an, in turn, diverse mix of employers.

The literature review draws out a number of themes as follows: the global contextof immigration in Ireland; migration and labour market segmentation; Irish labour

migration policy and broader social policy; the well-being of immigrant workers;and barriers to nding appropriate work. These are discussed below:

The Global Context

Whereas the economic boom was instrumental in attracting immigrants toIreland it is important to note that immigration is a function of global forcesthat include world demographic growth, processes of globalisation, economicinequalities between the northern and southern hemispheres and theenlargement of the European Union. As such, the more relevant context in which

to locate an assessment of immigration in Ireland is not the national economy butits incorporation into international economic processes.

Migration and Labour Market Segmentation

One of the key labour market phenomena that arise from the interaction of globalisation and migration is labour market segmentation characterised bywidening gaps both between immigrants and non-immigrants, and amongdifferent immigrant categories. The degree of segmentation depends on a whole

host of factors including ethnic and national background, gender, recentnessof arrival, legal status, education and training. There is a consensus within the



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literature that labour market segmentation has become a dening featureof contemporary immigrant employment, most evident in the clustering orconcentration of immigrants in particular jobs, industries and economic sectors,inuenced in the main by the following three key factors: the attributes of immigrants themselves, especially in relation to social capital; employers’recruitment practices and processes; and government policy.

Irish Labour Market Policy

Irish immigration policy and particularly labour migration policy has alreadyseen a number of distinct phases. The rst, ‘employer led’ approach placed fewrestrictions on employers in hiring non-Irish workers and allowed the widespreaduse of work permits to ll low-skilled positions (NESC 2006a). In 2003 / 2004a distinction between European Economic Area1 (EEA) immigrants and thosefrom non EEA countries was introduced whereby low skilled employment wasto be sourced from the enlarged EU and the work permit system re-focused onhigh skilled occupations where there was an evident skills shortage. Later, in2005, a more managed approach to labour migration became evident in such

developments as the establishment of the Irish Naturalisation and ImmigrationService (INIS) (NESC, 2006a). Criticism of the current scenario focuses mainlyon the lack of policy and legislation to adequately support the integration of immigrants and the limited recognition of the permanency of immigration.

Labour Market Well-Being

In relation to the labour market well being of immigrants, the literature showsthat while the overall rate of unemployment amongst immigrants is higherthan amongst the indigenous population, it is particularly high amongst thoseof Black origin, of whom over one quarter were returned as unemployed in the2006 Census. It has also been argued that the majority of new entrants into theIrish labour market have taken up predominantly low skill jobs which Irish workershave tended to avoid. This clustering is not driven by the skill level of immigrants;rather it reects under-employment, where immigrants are employed below theirskill level (Barrett et al, 2006).

1 The EEA ccomprises the member states of the European Union, in addition to Norway,Iceland and Liechtenstein. Swiss nationals also have rights which are similar to those of nationals of EEA countries




Barriers to Employment

Finally the literature highlights barriers to employment on both the supplyside (e.g., lack of prociency in the English language or a lack of understandingamongst immigrants of the cultural norms applying in the host country) anddemand side (e.g., the requirement of some Irish employers that recruits shouldhave Irish experience; the experience of racism and discrimination; and the failureof some recruitment practices to conform to labour market standards). Otherbarriers to labour market mobility can arise from policy constraints, for example,policy governing entitlement to work can have a signicant impact on theemployment mobility of immigrants that increases their vulnerability.

5. The experiences of Immigrant workers in seekingwork

Our ndings echo issues raised throughout the literature, particularly as regardsnding work. Almost all of the immigrant workers involved in the research, andalso most of the organisations consulted with, were of the view that immigrants

per se experience difculties in the labour market and that some groups of immigrants (notably Africans) experience severe difculty. In some respects, thedifculties they identify and the views they express could have been articulatedby other groups who experience disadvantage in the Irish labour market (e.g.,lack of information; distance from service providers; or employers’ negativemindsets). This commonality suggests that in addressing the labour marketneeds of immigrants, particularly the most disadvantaged, lessons can be learntfrom labour market inclusion measures more generally. However, the fact thatimmigrants share certain labour market difculties with other groups shouldnot detract from what is specic to their situation or from the heterogeneity of

immigrants themselves.

The key ndings relating to the personal circumstances and motivations,awareness, decision making and job search strategies of immigrant workersare presented below in addition to key points relating to their experience of therecruitment and selection process and experiences in the workplace in terms of retention and advancement.



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5.1 Immigrants’ personal goals/orientation and jobseeking strategy

The research found that the personal plans and aspirations of immigrants,sometimes referred to as the mode of orientation, can potentially have asignicant bearing on how they operate on the labour market and what type of work they want or will accept. In that regard, a distinction can be made betweenimmigrants who intend to make a life in Ireland and who will therefore have

career aspirations commensurate with their skill and qualication level; thosewho want to upgrade their skills (including language skills) for a planned returnhome and who will seek work which facilitates this, and those who want toaccumulate savings as quickly as possible and who are likely to accept any jobthat allows them achieve that aim.

Regardless of their orientation, however, most immigrants face a severe nancialimperative to nd work immediately and consequently have to balance career andlonger term aspirations with the need to generate income. As a result, under-employment is a very frequent part of the immigrant labour market experienceand is considered by those we engaged with as a normal part of the process of

‘nding ones feet’ in a new country. Such underemployment was perceived to bea problem only if it coincides with segmentation in the labour market and / or if those affected cannot nd more appropriate work in a reasonable period of time.

Although there is economic pressure on immigrants to nd work quickly, there isstill a decision making process regarding which companies to apply to or in whatsector to look for work. In that regard there is a range of factors that inuencedecision making including:

the English language skills of the immigrants themselves;•

their own competencies and capacity to have these recognised;•

the information provided to them by personal networks; and,•

the signals, intentional or otherwise, given by employers.•

5.2 Awareness of the labour market

The level of labour market information amongst immigrants and their job searchskills have been identied in previous research as contributing to their difcultiesin seeking work and these factors were again referenced as part of this research.In that regard issues such as the lack of awareness of available supports and the

adequacy of such supports were raised.




Immigrants saw the public sector as particularly inaccessible and they wereunlikely to target this sector when looking for employment. Reasons for thisincluded current policy restricting entry to the Civil Service General Service Gradesto EEA nationals only, the lack of visible diversity amongst public sector employeesthat immigrants have encountered, the perception that entry into many publicservice jobs can only occur at a junior level and the misperception amongst manyimmigrants that prociency in the Irish language is required for a wide range of public sector roles. Some immigrants, particularly Eastern Europeans planningto work here for a xed period felt that it was less appropriate for them as ‘guest

workers’ to aspire to jobs in the public sector.

5.3 Experience of the selection process itself

The experience of seeking work itself varied but, in general, the focus groupdiscussions tended to focus on negative aspects of that experience such as: thefailure by employers to acknowledge applications and the failure by employers toprovide feedback on the reasons for the rejection of an application.

The initial screening of job applications was perceived by focus group participantsto be a very signicant stumbling block in their efforts to nd work. In general,the dominant perception was that applying to an open recruitment processwas not likely to lead to positive outcomes. Such was the frequency of negativeoutcomes at this stage, that the lack of success in getting through the initialscreening process was widely interpreted as an anti-immigrant bias on the part of employers, and in the case of African applicants, as racism.

Immigrants participating in the focus groups and representatives of their peerled organisations identied a wide range of challenges that immigrant workershave experienced within the interview and assessment process that included

issues relating to language prociency and cultural differences in communication(e.g., eye contact, assertiveness). Other issues mentioned included the use of assessment tests that made no allowances for non-native English speakers, theissue of qualications recognition, the frequent requirement of Irish employersfor Irish based work experience and references and the discounting of relevantexperience in the home country. Employer prejudice and confusion concerningthe legal status and right to work of immigrants were also referenced aspresenting signicant difculties for immigrants.

In summary, the research indicates that immigrants encounter the Irish labour

market rst and foremost as immigrants. That is, their labour market experiencesare shaped and determined by:



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their own cultural capital (or lack of);•

difculties in nding employment at the level at which they were•

employed in their home country;what they see as the reluctance or hesitancy of some Irish employers to•

recruit immigrants; and bytheir legal status.•

Some immigrants have developed personal strategies to overcome these issues,e.g. through voluntary work in the community sector in order to acquire work

experience; through deliberately omitting qualications from their CVs andseeking access to lower level jobs in the sector they subsequently hope to advancein; and, through becoming self-employed. More generally, though, it appears thedominant immigrant response to the difculties in nding work and in particularin nding work at the appropriate level is to accept work at a lower level. The research suggests that while labour market disaffection is not prevalentamongst immigrants, reinforced self-exclusion may be, that is, repeated failureto secure appropriate employment or the perception that their applicationsare not welcomed by some organisations may lead to a degree of fatalism, the

abandonment of effort and the perception that the space within the Irish labourmarket that is accessible to immigrants is limited.

6. The Experiences and Practices of Employers inRecruiting Immigrant Workers.

Chapter 3 of the report presents the views of employers regarding their practiceand experiences in relation to the recruitment of immigrant workers. Among theemployers consulted with, several did specically address the needs of immigrant

job applicants and developed innovative approaches to removing barriers to theirrecruitment and selection. Other ndings also provide insights into the type of practices, provisions and policies that could improve the well-being of immigrantson the labour market and ensure their access to appropriate employment.

Mechanisms of recruitment (e.g., informal, formal, outsourced) varied considerablyacross organisations depending on the size of the organisation, the sector inwhich it is located and the level at which positions were available. The principledistinction arises however between large organisations where recruitmentfollows a formal and highly structured process usually implemented by specialistHR teams with little input from managers, and small companies where informal

and more personalized approaches are implemented by the employer. In generalthis enables smaller companies to be more exible in recruiting but also meansthat they tend to use more subjective judgment.




Employers we consulted with said they had recruited immigrant workers for avariety of reasons including, for example: difculty in getting Irish workers insufcient numbers; difculty in getting specic skill sets among Irish workers; andbecause a multi-cultural workforce enabled better product / service in a globalmarket.

The recruitment process, particularly as implemented by large organisations wasfound to be comprised of a number of key elements or stages that we summariseas follows:

Elements of Recruitment Process

1. Pre-recruitment

Developing job description•

Establishing eligibility•

criteriaAdvertising•

2. Identifying the most suitable

applicants

Screening•

Short-listing•

3. Assessment/ Selection

Interviews•

Testing•

Reference checking/Vetting•

4. Post recruitment

Induction programmes•

Other supports•

In the body of the report we look at how the organisations consulted withimplement these various elements and the implications of these for therecruitment of immigrant workers. Some key issues arising include the following:

No special efforts were made to attune the job description to the•

particular circumstances of immigrants or to accommodate cultural ornational differences in the professionalisation of some occupations.

Among the most common key criteria for determining eligibility were:•

qualications; prociency in English; and entitlement to work in Ireland.

In general, there were no attempts to recruit through specically•

immigrant avenues, except where immigrant workers were explicitlybeing sought.



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Almost all organisations said they relied heavily on CVs as part of •

the application / preliminary screening and shortlisting process.Organisations that use application forms were satised that theirapplication forms per se did not include anything that could prejudiceapplications from immigrants (for example, in most cases the forms donot require information on nationality).

In large scale recruitment processes, the short-listing stage appears to be•

a crucial stage in terms of the applicant’s chance of securing a job, and is

the hurdle that many immigrant applicants nd difcult to pass. Howeverdue to the nature of short-listing it is difcult to determine with anyaccuracy what the most common basis for assessment is.

Psychometric tests or other forms of aptitude testing (generally written)•

are frequently used by larger organisations and in respect of recruitmentfor technical positions. It was felt that these tests, while they can bechallenging for all candidates cause particular difculty for people whoserst language is not English. While many employers recognise thisfact, they view these tests as an essential means of selecting fairly and

objectively in situations where large numbers of candidates apply.

In all instances, interviews formed a crucial part of the recruitment•

process and in almost all cases these are competency based interviewswhere interviewers have received appropriate training; however, trainingin intercultural interviewing appears to be quite rare.

When asked to indicate the barriers to good performance at the interview stagefor immigrant candidates, the employers surveyed responded as follows:

89 per cent cited inadequate prociency in English•

69 per cent cited poor communication skills•

41 per cent cited poor personal presentation•

21 per cent cited lack of condence•

18 per cent cited lack of eye contact•

13 per cent cited lack of assertiveness•

In general, employers consider the recruitment process to be robust, demandingand difcult to get through, and that this is the case for Irish workers andimmigrant workers alike. They also perceive that it is essential that the robustnessof the process is maintained in order to retain the high standard of employee /productivity / customer service etc.




7. Divergent views of Employers and ImmigrantWorkers

This research identied quite divergent views of employers and immigrantworkers in relation to some key elements of the recruitment and selection process.Table 7.1 summarises how views can differ and illustrates that processes thatemployers perceive to be fair and to accommodate immigrant workers may beviewed by immigrants applicants themselves as problematic or as a barrier to

them performing effectively during the selection process.

Table 7.1: Divergent views of Employers and Immigrants on the Recruitment

Process

Views of Immigrant

job seekers

Elements

of the

Recruitment

/Selection

Process

Practice and views of

employers

Feel it is frequentlyunclear what the jobrequires, particularly lessspecialized jobs.Uncertainty abouteligibility existsparticularly with regardto qualications.

Jobdescription

Feel that formal jobdescriptions make it clearto applicants what isinvolved and should assistimmigrant applicantsto determine if they arequalied.



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Limited advertisingavenues are usedespecially immigrantspecic avenues.

Often not clear if theirapplications are welcome.

Believe that advertised jobs are sometimesalready lled.

Advertising Immigrant specicavenues are rarelyused but the dominantperception is thatmainstream channels aresufcient for attractingimmigrants.

Rarely indicate that jobsare open to immigrantapplicants.

Rarely indicate thatequality policies extend toimmigrants.

Express difculties with

on-line applications.

Frequently require

assistance in preparing

CVs, completing

application etc.

Application Changes to application

forms have been made

to accommodateimmigrants.

Employers agree that

poorly presented CVs

are an impediment for

immigrants.




Strong perceptions

that immigrants are

deliberately screened

out both at initial and

subsequent screening

stages.

Feel that many employers

have a requirement for

Irish references and Irish

work experience, and that

work experience outside

of Ireland is given little

consideration.

Screening/

Short-listing

Initial screening based on

eligibility criteria.

Subsequently short-

listing inuenced by

strong pressure to reduce

numbers.

Employers are adamant

that no anti-immigrant

bias is operating, but

some agreement that the

basis of screening out

may be quite spurious.

Mixed views were

expressed by employers

on the need for Irish

experience and references,but the majority indicated

they did not select or

shortlist on this basis.

Perception that employers

underestimate the

difculties for immigrants

at interview.

View that culturaldifferences in

presentation /

performance at interview

can limit the applicants

chances.

Interviewing Employers generally

showed an appreciation

of the difculties

experienced by

immigrants at interview.

Larger companiesfrequently train

interview panels but not

always in inter-cultural

interviewing.

Perception that

language and verbal

communication are very

important, but cultural

norms less so.



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Perceive written and

language based tests as

presenting difculties

and sometimes being

culturally biased.

Little or no

accommodation to

immigrants for example

by providing more time.

Testing Limited use of tests

amongst employers , but

a lot of emphasis on such

tests as do take place.

Few examples of

innovation in responding

to immigrant issues.

Perception that employers

do not understand the

legal situation or the

qualications framework

and that many employers

will not take the

extra time to processpaperwork etc on these

issues.

Vetting Employers reasonably

familiar with legal system

and with NQF framework.

Experience mixed in the

extent to which they use

them. The more sought

after or scarce the skillset, the more likely the

employer will undertake

the necessary work to vet

immigrant applicants.

Perception of limited

promotion or

advancement prospects.

Some sense that their

opportunities aredeliberately blocked.

Some hesitancy to go

forward for promotion.

Promotion No barriers to

advancement perceived

by employers.

The vast majority of employers consulted with had not audited their recruitmentprocess with respect to its impact on immigrants, although some had modiedelements of it when they perceived a specic difculty arising. Overall, therewas a general willingness among employers to make changes to accommodateimmigrant workers, and this was frequently related to a desire to promote

diversity within the workplace. Some organisations however did not perceive anyneed for this.




8. Conclusions

Based on the ndings of this research it is evident that there is a wide rangeof issues that are impacting on the recruitment and selection experiences andoutcomes amongst immigrants. The ndings point towards a range of measuresthat could be taken to enhance these experiences and outcomes, as well ashighlighting issues that merit more comprehensive and in-depth research.

The ndings of the research suggest a number of key issues that impact onimmigrant workers in the Irish labour market. Some of these issues relate tothe policy context, others to the provision of labour market services. The roleof English language competence in underpinning labour market wellbeing isrelevant here as is the provision of more labour market supports to immigrantworkers in relation to issues such as information, assistance with job applications(including the presentation of CVs) and assistance with interview techniques. Inaddition, the problem of labour market segmentation and the lack of researchinto the longer-term integration of immigrants into the workforce and theiradvancement in employment are issues requiring attention.

Of more specic relevance to the concerns of this report are those issues thatfall within the ambit of employers, in both the public and private sectors. Thefollowing, we suggest, are areas that need to be considered by employers:

There is a need for employers to be more mindful of the signals they•

send, inadvertently or otherwise, to potential foreign job applicants. Theextent to which immigrants seeking work will exclude consideration of organisations they perceive to send negative signals has been highlightedby the research. The implication is that employers, including public sectororganisations, should ensure that they are seen to be immigrant-friendly.This is particularly relevant for organisations, including those in the public

sector, which wish to attract a culturally diverse workforce

There appears to be considerable scope for employers to expand the•

range of media they use in placing job advertisements in order to moreexplicitly target immigrant candidates. There is also a case to be madefor stating on advertisements that applications from immigrant workerswill be welcome and / or that being an equal opportunities employercovers the race ground. For larger organisations wishing to attract amore diverse workforce the possibility of consulting with immigrantcommunities through their peer-led organisations could be considered.

This strategy, could help to ensure that advertising reaches immigrantaudiences and that advertising and recruiting practices are inclusive.



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In developing job descriptions and dening requirements and eligibility•

criteria employers should be mindful of cultural differences acrossnational boundaries in respect of the requirements for some occupationsas well as a more general lack of insight amongst immigrants into whata job might entail in the Irish context. Clarity and precision are requiredin order to minimise confusion and misinterpretations on the part of immigrant candidates. Employers – and especially those which havenot thus far succeeded in attracting immigrant candidates – shouldtake greater care to ensure that the descriptions of jobs they provide

can be understood by non-Irish workers and in particular that they donot contain implicit cultural assumptions that would not be readilyunderstood by potential immigrant candidates.

Screening and short-listing procedures, particularly in large volume•

situations, can be opaque and driven by pragmatism. Auditing therecruitment process is an effective but costly way of dealing with thisissue. However, employers should introduce measures to ensure that nounintentional or implicit biases are at play that could militate against theshort-listing of immigrant applicants.

Interviewing and to a lesser extent, testing, are hugely signicant in•

underpinning the selection of candidates and both present very realchallenges to immigrant candidates, particularly but not exclusivelyfor those for whom English is not their rst language. The extent of the difculty that foreign candidates experience in relation to theinterview process may not be fully appreciated by employers. Thevalue of intercultural training of interviewers is indicated here. Ingeneral, employers were more aware of the difculties for immigrantsassociated with selection tests but few had sought ways to minimisethese. The difculty in nding effective alternatives to testing must be

acknowledged and at the level of the individual company, addressing thisissue may be costly. However, macro level approaches including ongoingmonitoring and experimentation could be considered.

Measures to smooth the vetting process – including in relation to•

references, police clearance, recognition of qualications and legalentitlement to work – need to be put in place. Greater support foremployers in terms of information and assistance is required, as is bettercommunication of ongoing legislative changes and easier access tosources of information.




If the requirement to have work experience in Ireland is operating as a•

signicant barrier, particularly for highly skilled applicants, it would pointto clear remedies in terms of innovative work experience programmes forimmigrants (including refugees).

Ireland’s experience of inward migration is still a relatively new phenomenon.To date that experience has been largely unproblematic despite the dramaticscale of inward migration and this can in part be attributed to the economicand employment growth achieved over the last decade. However, the national

and international contexts have changed and the State (including public sectoremployers) as well as employers in the broader economy will need to developand improve on the available expertise to attract, recruit and select immigrantworkers with a view to promoting the longer term viability of the economy andof individual organisations. It will also be necessary to demonstrate to actualand prospective immigrants that Ireland is committed to promoting equality of opportunity in the rst instance and equality of outcome over time. While goodpractice amongst certain individual employers and/or groups of employers iscertainly evident it would appear that a greater level of pro- activity is required toachieve real equality and fair outcomes for immigrants in the workforce.



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